Off the Beaten Track & Our Travels

Dec 6

Dear Friends and Fellow Travellers,

As always we have been travelling, sampling and exploring so we know where to send you (and more importantly perhaps where to not send you!). This has become essential given the crowds, the heat and the selective information shared online. It has never been more important to meet the owners, staff and people on the ground who make our trips special. I am just back from Kenya where I spent a few weeks doing just that.

Ol Lentille, Kenya

From Nairobi a private air safari took us to private concessions in the Maasai Mara and then up to the dramatic valleys and peaks of Laikipia and Samburu. With game drives, hot air balloon rides and evening bonfires with Maasai stories we settled into the peace that can only be found in the African bush. In Laikipia we switched gears to do beautiful walks in dry riverbeds to dramatic view points and climbed at sunrise to the top of giant red boulders to look over the endless folds of mountains towards Mount Kenya. Meals and hikes were interspersed with discussions on the challenges and benefits of land leases and tourism bed night fees for local communities. Visiting these places makes a difference to the people, the land, the animals and the future. We finished on the evocative Swahili Coast with it's miles of white sand beaches and warm (hot!) Indian Ocean waters.

Bushtops Camp, Kenya

Kenya’s Wild Elegance

Bushtop’s in the Maasai Mara is celebrating 20 years in 2026 – 20 years of community enrichment, employment for locals and protection of wildlife. Everything about it was first class - many of the staff have been there from the beginning and come from villages close by - ideas have been realized together over two decades and it shows.
From the beautiful rooms you can simply sit and enjoy a continuous play of animals at the salt lick in front of the camp. Dozens of elephant, giraffe, zebra, baboons, all manor of antelope and even leopard. Hyena calls reverberated throughout the night and we even had a spectacular thunderstorm to mark the start of the short rains. The Maasai told stories around campfires and walked with us in the hills. The chef proudly served absolutely delicious meals and "bitings", wonderful snacks and canapes which seemed to appear at all hours. On leaving we had an air safari flying low over the rivers and waterholes before swinging north to Laikipia.

Bushtops Camp, Kenya

Mountains, Sunrises & Endless Views

Ol Lentille is the perfect property between game rich safaris in the Maasai Mara and Amboseli. One can walk and hike and climb giant rock outcrops that look over the rift valley and the folding mountains of Samburu Land - the perfect break from typically sedentary game viewing. The conservancy lies on an important elephant corridor and is rich in birdlife and there are dozen's of pairs of Dik-Dik - they tiny antelope with eyes like lemurs. The lodge sits on a ridge with both sunset and sunrise views, meals were superb – the chef having incorporated local dishes and Singaporean favourites and ingredients sourced from the local community shamba. The guardians and hosts of Ol Lentille are a Singaporean/French/British family who have embraced the mind-blowig landscape, the local people both Maasai and Samburu and the wildlife.

Ol Lentille, Kenya

Swahili Coast

Our final stop was the Swahili Coast – the beautiful stretch of white sand, palm trees and multi blues of the Indian Ocean. I spent a week there enjoying several different properties; from a remote island lodge (where the staff are shown going home across the tidal flats by tractor); to a beautiful family-owned and operated, antique filled rondavel haven in Kinondo; and a swish and swell villa option in Diani Beach with the best Italian food south of Turin (the owners are Kenyan-Italian). Snorkelling, sailing, kayaking, wind-surfing, diving and horseback riding followed by candlelit dinners. Heaven!

Swahili Coast, Kenya

Where we have been in 2025

I started the year with a visit to Iceland followed by a meander through the English countryside and London to experience wonderful Cotswolds and Devon hikes, horse rides, gardens and pubs. Madelyn and I spent over 3 weeks in Argentina and Chile. It was absolutely magical – it must be put your list if you have not been. I slipped away to Saint Barth’s in the Caribbean in June for a week of French West Indies joy. It has it all - great food, hotels that run the gamut from glam to secluded hip bolt holes, crystal clear water, deserted beaches and for those that want it lively beach clubs for long lunches and late nights. My annual pilgrimage to Morocco in September was as always magical; filled with friends and camels. WHERE TO NEXT - I am going to Australia right after New Year to visit family and explore Queensland.

More images on Instagram

Belinda started her year with a trip exploring two of Europe’s most iconic cities - Amsterdam and Barcelona. Amsterdam is a city of captivating contrasts, with world-class museums and a lively art scene, famous for its picturesque waterways, cycling culture (though Belinda didn’t dare!), and old-world charm. She expanded her wanderings in Spain with 5 fabulous days in Barcelona which included a tour of Gaudi’s whimsical buildings and a much loved cooking class in the Gothic Quarter. In September She was a luxury travel conference in Sardinia in October and from there did a road trip through Montenegro and Croatia. Her best tip: if you want to beat the crowds in beautiful Dubrovnik and the popular islands of Hvar, travel in late September or late May for beautiful temperatures, warm water… and no people! WHERE TO NEXT - Belinda is off to South Africa this winter.

Madelyn focused on her beloved South and Central America. We were in Argentina and Chlie for 3 weeks – Buenos Aires, the Perito Moreno Glacier, famous Patagonian hikes in Torres del Paine and magical Estancia stays to go puma tracking with gauchos. She also made it up to the Atacama Desert for more hikes, biking and other-worldly landscapes. She enjoyed a quick week in Barbados and 2 weeks in Guatemala and Belize and in the summer vacationed in Vancouver and on Vancouver Island. WHERE TO NEXT - After the holidays she will be going to St Lucia on vacation and scouting as always and then off to South East Asia in the spring.

Where Our Guests Are Going in December

December is the month many of our travellers carve out time with extended family – this is the only window everyone has time off so families and friends have planned wonderful getaways for a week or longer. As always Mexico and the Caribbean are popular – easy, warm and fun. Those with more time are heading to Kenya, Zimbabwe, Antarctica, Sri Lanka, Morocco and Portugal – a nice option to escape the crowds and heat of the summer and take advantage of great low-season hotel prices. Our mantra is "travel off season" - you really do get so much more out of your trip.

Where Our Guests Have Been & Testimonials

TANZANIA & BOTSWANA:
All and more than we hoped for - we will never do a trip without again. Thrills of a lifetime, genuine warmth of the people, respect for the wildlife at all the camps, beautiful - it has been an incredible experience. All of us were over the moon. ---JCD & SA Family from Toranto.

VIETNAM, LAOS & CAMBODIA:
We felt like first class travellers and very much looked after from the moment we landed to the moment they took off. Vietnam, the Mekong River trip, Laos and Cambodia - all fantastic! ---BK & BG from Washington

ALASKA:
Just arrived home this morning. The trip was perfect - all that we had hoped it would be. The boys LOVED fishing and all arrived home with boxes of salmon. The staff was absolutely fabulous. I am so pleased and so grateful to you for making the trip so nice. I am glad that I finally saw Alaska! --- GK & S from Connecticut

GALAPAGOS:
Thank you! We had a wonderful trip. The boat did an excellent job - we enjoyed the staff and the other guests. It was a great combo of adults and kids on the boat. Thanks so much. --- LD & JP from Washington DC

Hotels and Places we Love

Alfajiri Villas, Diani Beach, Kenya

The peace and quiet, the sunrises with coffee and the sunsets with secret-recipe fish tapenade. You will never want to leave. We did venture out for lunch but quickly came back for the delicious Italian cuisine and fresh seafood menu planned daily with the chef. Owner-operated to perfection it was like staying with your Italian cousin who disappeared to Kenya 30 years go. A fantastic option for a “buy-out” celebration.

Alfajiri Villas, Diani Beach, Kenya

Nusfjord, Norway

Imagine having the will and the means to protect an entire way of life and an entire peninsula in your homeland. That is exactly what has happened at Nusfjord. A private, local investor bought an entire fishing village, closed the roads to tour busses and cruise ship visitors; turned the existing fisherman’s houses into hotel accommodation; the general store into a restaurant and other out buildings into cafeterias where the village goes for breakfast. With the local community they are holding fast to Norwegian culture and tradition as well as promoting sustainable hospitality.

Nusfjord, Norway

Casa Bonavita, Malta (no images yet – but we have seen the plans)

In May 2026, after a meticulous five-year restoration, an 18th-century house, will reopen as a 17-bedroom boutique hotel set within beautiful gardens. The hotel is a love letter to the layers of history and cultures that make up Malta. Original a family home, the property is surrounded by citrus trees, palms and fragrant jasmine. With over 300 days of sunshine a year, Malta is one of the Mediterranean's most beguiling settings – Spring 2026?

Casa Bonavita, Malta

Wishing everyone a great lead up to the Holidays and, to our friends in the US, Happy Thanksgiving.

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From all of us at Askari Travel…

Muriel
Founder and Principal
Askari Travel, Toronto
www.askaritravel.com
muriel@askaritravel.com
w: (416) 366-1900
c: (416) 528-7915

Claire Reyes https://www.clairereyes.com